Shattered
by Yissy-chan
Summary: Naruto and Sakura have just returned from the front lines of the Fourth Shinobi World War. However, what starts out as a simple break from the action turns out to result in an unfortunate run-in with Sasuke Uchiha, and the start of unimaginable suffering for Sakura Haruno, suffering only Naruto can help her with. NaruSaku.
1. Prologue

"Sasuke! Sasuke, wait!" Karin held her right hand out in a plea for him to stop. Her other hand rested on her knee as she fought to catch her breath, exhausted from her sprint. "Wh—where are you going?" Sasuke didn't even turn to look at her.

"Karin. I thought I told you to wait with Jugo and Suigetsu. This is a personal matter I have to attend to."

"But—but Sasuke, I just don't get it." She straightened and pushed her glasses further up the brim of her nose. "What matter would you want us to stay away for? Besides, your only other goal besides destroying the Leaf is, well... you know..."

"To restore my clan?" A cold wind swept through the forest, tossing up leaves. They fluttered before resting on the ground once more.

"Well, yes," she said. Sasuke finally looked over his shoulder at Karin; the bitterness that consumed those dark eyes bit at the chilly air in front of him.

"Then if you must know, yes, that is what I'm going to do." Karin took in a quick breath. It was all she could do not to cower under that gaze.

"Sasuke..." She took a wary step forward, her face burning red. "You know, I don't know why you have to go away to do that. You and me... we could restore the Uchiha line together, right her and now." She pulled off her thick-rimmed glasses and took another step forward. Sasuke's face remained impassive as he turned his head to look forward once more.

"No, Karin." His words froze her in her steps. "You are an invaluable asset to Taka. I can't have your power being compromised because you got pregnant." Karin stared at the forest floor, blood now pulsing in her veins from shame alone. "Besides, I've already carefully selected who the mother will be. Someone I know who will keep the child, one responsible to raise it, and one whose 'incapacitation' will be advantageous to us when we attack the Leaf."

"Who?" Karin's voice was barely a whisper. Sasuke offered no reply. His mouth merely twisted into a smirk and then he was gone.


	2. Chapter 1

"I really appreciate the business, you two. It's been quite a while since Ichiraku's had any customers." The kindly ramen maker poured two bowls of noodles and broth, both steaming and heaping with egg, onions, and chicken. "The war has certainly taken its toll on everyone it seems, those involved with the fighting and those watching from a distance as well."

Naruto snatched the bowl as soon as it was set in front of him and began scooping the ramen into his mouth. "I still can't believe we were sent home like this!" he said through a mouthful of noodles. "I bet Grandma Tsunade just doesn't like being shown up all the time."

"Naruto, that's disgusting! Swallow before you start talking!" Sakura scolded, whacking the back of his head. He looked at her mournfully.

"I wish you wouldn't call me disgusting..."

She sighed. "Anyway, it's probably a good thing she gave us time off. My chakra levels never had enough time to fully recover before I had to use it again." She slurped up some noodles and set the bowl back onto the counter in front of her. "That's probably something you can't relate to very well, though, huh Naruto." He glanced at her and quickly swallowed before answering.

"Well... I suppose it is pretty hard for me to run out of chakra." He locked his fingers together and pressed the back of his head into his hands. His wide grin showed he was pretty pleased with himself. "But you're awesome too, Sakura! I mean, who else can punch the ground and make it look like a huge earthquake was there?"

"Well, Lady Tsunade for starters." Naruto's smile faded and he stared up into the lights, his brow wrinkled with consideration.

"Oh, right. Well, besides her. Anyway, you're awesome still!" A small smile started on Sakura's face.

"It's not like I'm having some sort of emotional self-pity crisis, Naruto. Sheesh, you don't have to be so flattering!" she said.

"It's not flattery if it's true!"

"Flattery is excessive praise, and I would definitely consider this excessive praise."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Naruto grumbled. He picked up his bowl and began slurping the noodles into his mouth once more with his chopsticks. "The point is that you're too amazing to be hanging out in the village doing nothing." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Not again with that. Look..." She paused as she struggled to find the right words to say. "Right now, we're both pretty strong. Especially you, Naruto. You've worked so hard, harder than anyone else I know, and it shows. It really does. But, sometimes what we think is our best isn't really the best we can do. I'm sure you know this more than anyone! Why else would you train so hard if you were always satisfied with how you were?" She stopped and smiled at him. "So it's really a good thing we've taken a break. It gives us time to rest, and also to train ourselves harder so that next time we're on the battlefield, we'll be even stronger. In the end, we'll be more helpful because we took this break than if we hadn't even taken it at all."

"Yeah, you're right," he said suddenly. His bowl was now empty aside from a thin layer of broth. He turned, looking Sakura straight in the eye. "We've got to get stronger. Not only to fight in the war, but if we're going to deal with Sasuke, too." His hand clenched into a fist and he looked back down at his bowl.

"Naruto..." She reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, but both Naruto and Sakura were broken from their thoughts by Ichiraku's voice.

"Oh, and in thanks for your business, we're giving you a free bowl of instant Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto's face lit up and a smile broke across his face.

"No way! Free Ichiraku instant ramen? Old man, you are the best!" Naruto could not hide his grin as two cups of the dehydrated ramen were set in front of them. "Oh boy, I know what I'm eating for breakfast!" Sakura let out a small laugh.

"Oh Naruto. You're such an idiot sometimes." He turned to look at her. His eyebrows were lowered and his mouth was turned down in a frown with worry. He bit his lip, then held out the cups of ramen towards her.

"Here Sakura, you can have them. I probably shouldn't be eating ramen for breakfast anyway." His eyes shifted, as if this was one of the hardest decisions of his life.  
Sakura burst out laughing, an uncontrollable laugh that didn't seem to have a stop. Naruto just stared at her. He exchanged a look with Ichiraku, who simply shrugged. "Sakura...are you all right?" he worried.

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She would look up at him, just to look away again as another bawdy laugh coursed through her. She couldn't seem to regain her composure at all, no matter how hard she tried. _That look on his face!_ "You thought," she breathed between laughs, "that I...didn't want you to eat...ramen...for breakfast?" Another bout of laughter ensued. Naruto scratched his head as he began to join in with an uneasy chuckle.

"Uh... yeah?"

Finally calming down, Sakura breathed deeply. She turned and smiled at her friend. "Naruto, you can eat that ramen whenever you want to. In fact, you can have both cups." He looked down at the cups in his hands in surprise.

"Oh, no, you should at least have one of them!" he insisted, but Sakura shook her head.

"Naruto. We all know how much you love ramen. Trust me, you can use the ramen more than I can." He frowned down at his noodles, as if debating if he should argue again, then slipped the packages into his side pocket. Clearly he'd decided against it.

"So, Sakura..." he started, but suddenly she didn't feel right. All humor in the air instantly vanished. There was something out there that made her hair stand on end. She glanced behind her shoulder, but there was no one there. Naruto was still talking –something about the old training ground –but she was no longer listening.

"–we could go finish off our date at the old –" Sakura jumped to her feet. She felt uneasy, anxious.

"There's something not right," she said.

"What?"

"I don't know. Something just doesn't feel–" It struck her how ridiculous this must sound. Something didn't feel right –what kind of proof was that for anything? It wasn't as though she had been able to sense another chakra presence or anything –something just didn't feel right. Like anyone would take her seriously with an explanation like that .

"Never mind, I just need to get home now." Naruto's face fell. "I know I promised we could have a real date, but I don't feel very well." Naruto hastily scooted the chair back and jumped to his feet.

"Here!" He tossed the money on the counter and then pushed aside the curtain that hung at the entrance of Ichiraku's. Sakura was already heading home. "Hey Sakura! Wait for me! I'll at least walk you there!"

* * *

"Keep in mind that just because we went on one date doesn't change anything," Sakura said. She and Naruto were standing in front of the front door to her house, saying their final goodbyes for the night.

"Right..." he said, sounding entirely unconvinced. Her eyes narrowed and she pointed a threatening finger at him.

"Not one change."

"Of course! We're just friends. like always!" he said, quickly nodding his head up and down. Sakura relaxed, but she couldn't get rid of a nagging feeling in her gut. _What was it?_ "Oh , and here's your bag." Naruto slid her green bag off his shoulder and handed it back to her. He'd offered to carry it for her, so she accepted .

"Oh, thanks." She slung it over her shoulder and then opened the door and stepped inside. "All right, bye Naruto, and thanks for the dinner and the walk."

"No problem! Bye Sakura!" As soon as the door shut, she felt vulnerable. Weak. _What is wrong with me?_

"Sakura, is that you?" She could hear her mother coming toward her, so she hurried up the stairs and headed to her room.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"So, tell me everything! How was it? Did anything... particularly good happen?" There was no denying the excitement in her mother's voice, and that was something she just could not handle at the moment. Sakura stepped inside her room and started inching the door shut.

"It was good. Look, I'm really tired, so I'm just going to go to bed, okay?" Thankfully, the footsteps stopped.

"Oh. Well, all right," she said, sounding disappointed. "But you must tell me the details tomorrow! Good night, dear!"

"Night mom." The door clicked shut behind her and she slid the bag from her shoulder, heaving a deep sigh. Now that she was home, she realized that she really was tired. Her initial plan to get home and then slip out her window and into the dark streets of the Leaf Village suddenly didn't seem entirely appealing. But still, she had to figure out what that weird feeling was about...

She headed to her closet and had just begun picking out her pajamas when she sensed a presence inside her window. Her hand crept to the pouch strapped around her leg and gripped a kunai knife. She was ready to spin around and throw it, but the person spoke.

"Sakura." She froze. She could recognize that voice anywhere. Slowly, Sakura turned until she was looking straight back at the familiar black hair and red eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.


	3. Chapter 2

"S... Sasuke?" Her mind was reeling. What could he possibly want with her? Why was he in her room? Her grip on the kunai tightened, but he did not attack. He merely gave a slight beckon of his head and slung both legs out the window.

"Wait!" she yelled, but he was gone. Sakura ran to the window, and there, on the ground looking up at her, was Sasuke. Her eyes narrowed. What was he up to? He didn't seem to be hurting anyone, but this was her chance. She had to stop him. She flung herself from the window and landed soundlessly on her feet. When she straightened, Sasuke was looking directly at her.

"Sakura, we have to talk."

"Talk?" she repeated. "Talk? You abandoned us for Orochimaru, joined up with the Akatsuki, have tried to kill me twice, and you want to_talk?_" Sasuke seemed completely unaffected by her words.

"Yes, talk." He turned so his back was facing her. "Follow me."

"Like hell I will!" Her leg flew up and smashed into the ground. A huge rut split in the middle of the road and in the cover of the smoke she leaped into the air, pulling multiple kunai knives from her pouch. She pinpointed his location, and then threw them directly at Sasuke. To her complete shock, she got him. She landed softly on the ground, her chin quivering. He was swallowed in the crack, kunai protruding from his neck and forehead. He struggled to look up at her.

"Sakura..." he whispered before the life left him. She stared at him in disbelief. Had she just... killed Sasuke?

"You really thought it would be that easy?" She gasped. The voice wasn't coming from just one direction—it was coming from everywhere. Even as she looked forward, the familiar streets of the Leaf Village disappeared into darkness and were replaced by the red eyes of the mangekyo sharingan. "You're just as pathetic as you always were. You've been in my genjutsu from the first moment you looked at me." Sakura tried to move, but her body was not responding. It must've been part of the genjutsu.

"Where are you taking me? What do you want with me?" she managed to say.

"We're going to the old Uchiha district, to my old home. And you, Sakura, are going to aid me in restoring my clan." Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what he meant.

"No..." she whispered.

"Really, it's nothing personal."

* * *

"Why'd Sakura have to suddenly get all sick? And right when it was getting to the best part..." Naruto let out a groan and fell into a bench beside the road. "She sure wasn't acting sick." He stopped and then thought ruefully, "She was probably sick of me. She was probably thinking about _Sasuke_." Out of the corner of his eye he saw something red and white. As he tilted his head back to look, he recognized the Uchiha symbol. He'd been so worked up he hadn't even realized he'd ended up in front of the empty Uchiha district. Sadness crept over him and he looked at the ground.

"Sasuke... this is where you should be." He was staring at nothing in particular when he heard something—a shuffling of some sort, coming from the abandoned Uchiha district. "What would somebody be doing here?" He quietly began to creep through the district, as if making any sound would get him in trouble. Then he heard it—a strangled moan, begging for help, coming from one of the houses across the way. Cautiously, he pushed open the door, and his eyes widened. There was Sasuke against the opposite wall. He was shrugging on his shirt when Naruto entered, offering only a glance over his shoulder in acknowledgement of Naruto's entrance.

"Sasuke? What are you..." And then his gaze traveled to the floor. There lay Sakura, but not the one Naruto knew. She looked weak and terrified, and the shorts she usually wore under her pink skirt were completely tossed aside. Her hair and shirt were completely torn and disheveled. Her eyes were squeezed shut in anguish, tears running down her pale cheeks, and her mouth frozen in an unheard scream. Naruto looked slowly back up at Sasuke. Hatred burned in his eyes.

"What the hell did you _do_ to her?" Sasuke merely gave a short laugh as he slid his sword into its sheath.

"You never were one for observation, huh, Naruto?" Naruto grit his teeth, as if the harder he bit the more it would quell his anger.

"You _bastard_! I swear I will kill you!" But a voice, soft and weak, broke through his rage.

"Naruto... Naruto..." He tore his gaze from Sasuke back down to Sakura, coming to her side.

"Sakura," he said softly. He knelt down and gently laid his hand on her arm. She opened her eyes immediately, looking into his eyes.

"Naruto... please... " she began, turning her head slowly, "please... don't look at me. Just don't..." The rest of her sentence was swallowed into a sob as she tried to hide her face in her mangled hair.

He clenched his fist, his glower moving back to Sasuke, but he was gone. The one window of the room had been opened, and the curtains were blowing in the gentle breeze. Naruto took a step forward and almost chased after him, but then he remembered Sakura lying helpless on the ground. He gave one last look at the window, then knelt next to her side.

"Sakura, you're safe now," he whispered. He unzipped his jacket and carefully laid it on her body. "Don't worry, I promise I'll protect you from now on!" He gently scooped her into his arms and left the Uchiha building. His first destination was the hospital. Then he'd find Sasuke.

* * *

"Is she going to be alright?" Naruto demanded as he rushed alongside Sakura's stretcher. One of the nurses pushing her gave him a side glance.

"Like we said, she should be fine, but we need to perform our emergency post-rape procedures to try and get her hormonal imbalance righted and to kill off any foreign bodies in her system." Naruto's body tightened and he looked down at Sakura. She was no longer conscious, her beautiful green eyes covered by her eyelids, but the look on her face, the look of pure horror, was still there in the gentle sag of her brow. _Sasuke... why?_

"Doctor," one of the medical nurses called out, "there seems to be an excessive amount of bleeding and tearing."

"Let's get our healers working on that right away."

The medical team began pushing Sakura's stretcher into the emergency room. Naruto reached out to help, but another one of the nurses placed her hand on his arm. "Sorry, patients and medical personnel only after this point. One of our night hall monitors can escort you back to the seating area." The nurse then began to head into the emergency room as well, but turned her head to speak to him once more. "Don't worry. We'll help your girlfriend feel just like new again. We'll call for you in a bit."

"But she's not..." Naruto began, but the nurse had already entered the emergency room.

* * *

After what seemed like a lifetime, the kind nurse came out into the waiting room. When she saw Naruto, she offered a small smile.

"We've managed to stop the bleeding and the drugs seem to have taken effect. We suspect that she'll be feeling well enough to move around in a few hours or so." She beckoned for him to follow.

"But how is Sakura feeling?" Naruto demanded as he hurried after her.

The nurse stopped outside the room Sakura was resting in and turned to Naruto. "Rape is not something you can just walk away from. You crawl. Medically, she should be fine. Psychologically, I cannot say." She then opened the door, allowed Naruto inside, and shut the door behind him.

Sakura was now awake, but her face was sunken and lifeless. The only movement from her was the gentle rise and fall of her breast underneath the sheets of the hospital bed. Naruto walked over to her bed and sat on the chair next to it.

"Hey Sakura," he began. She blinked and turned her face towards his before quickly looking away again. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Naruto wasn't sure what to say. He'd never seen Sakura so defeated, so broken. She suddenly seemed like a beautiful china doll whose face had just been chipped on a rock. The doll was still beautiful, but there was no mistaking the horrible crack defiling the once smooth cheeks and lips. Sakura had shattered.

Naruto formed a fist. "I need to get Kakashi-sensei. We have to get Sasuke after what he did to you!" He stood up and started heading for the door.

"Naruto," she whispered. He stopped in his tracks and hurried back to her side.

"Yes?"

"Please don't tell anyone... about... I don't..." She choked as the tears started rolling down her cheeks again. "I don't even want… my parents to know…" He reached out and covered her hand with his.

"Yeah, I'll make sure Kakashi-sensei doesn't tell anyone," he said. "I promise." She gave a weak smile of thanks and then Naruto left the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei! Come on already! This is an emergency!" Naruto yelled impatiently as he banged the door in front of him. Finally, it swung open, revealing a very annoyed Kakashi.

"This couldn't wait until morning?" he sighed. He rubbed at his one showing eye and stifled a yawn. Naruto shook his head, suddenly sobered.

"No. It... It's about Sakura. And Sasuke." This grabbed Kakashi's attention.

"What about Sasuke?"

"He was here, in the village, and he..." Naruto's eyes narrowed and he looked away.

"In the village?" Kakashi repeated, sounding surprised. "And how does Sakura fit into all this?"

"He raped her!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi's eye widened.

"What?"

"That scumbag—he attacked her and used his mangekyo sharingan to make her completely unable to fight back! I should've been there... I shouldn't've let her go home..." Naruto's entire body began shaking, a mixture of guilt, grief, and anger coursing through him. Kakashi reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder.

"Naruto, none of this is your fault. What Sasuke did, you are not responsible for in any way. However," he said as he stepped out of his apartment and shut the door behind him, "that does not mean we aren't responsible for what happens to him now. Since Lady Tsunade isn't here right now, I'm going to assemble a team of my own. Naruto, I want you to write a letter to her explaining everything that happened! This is a direct attack from Sasuke Uchiha, one of our village's main threats, and should not be taken lightly."

"Right!" Naruto said as the two began heading down the hallway to the bottom floor. "So, when are we leaving?" Kakashi stopped. "I mean, I am going, right?"

"The team I'm going to get is specialized for their tracking skills. Besides, with Sakura currently out of commission, we'd have to find a replacement, someone we'd all have to get used to."

"But—"

"No, I'm going to use Kurenai's team." Naruto grumbled a bit as Kakashi continued. "They've been home from the battlefield for about a week now, so they should all be well-rested, unlike you and Sai, who just got back yesterday."

"You got back yesterday too!"

"Yes, but I'm also a jonin," he said.

"Listen, I'm not just going to sit here and wait to see if you guys can catch him! I SAW what he did to Sakura! I was there right before he left, and—"

"Naruto, you listen to me. After what Sasuke did to Sakura, I'm sure she's going to be more than just a little shaken up. The other reason why I want to leave you here is for her sake. She's going to need people supporting her during this difficult time, and who better to do that than her closest friend and comrade?" Naruto looked up at Kakashi.

"Closest... friend?" Kakashi smiled—or at least, what a smile looks like with a mask on—and nodded.

"She needs you right now more than I need you to track Sasuke. Will you do that for Sakura?" Naruto thought for a moment, before finally giving a grudging nod.

"I guess. If it were anybody but Sakura, though, I would go with you!"

"I believe you," Kakashi said.

"Oh, and Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Sakura... she doesn't want anybody to know about what actually happened to her, even her own parents. So could you just..."

"Tell Team Kurenai that Sasuke attacked you and Sakura in... where did all this happen?"

"Some rundown old building in the Uchiha district."

"So tell them that he attacked you two in the Uchiha district and we're tailing him now that we have this lead?" Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."


	4. Chapter 3

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune rushed across the field hospital until she stopped, panting, in front of the hokage, a scroll squeezed in her hand. "You've got to read this."

"If you haven't noticed I'm a little busy at the moment!" Tsunade snapped. She turned her attention back to a medical ninja who was giving some sort of report.

"M'lady, it's about Sasuke. He was in the village—" Tsunade suddenly turned and snatched the scroll from Shizune's hand.

"Sorry, this'll have to wait," she said to the medical ninja as she unrolled the scroll. While she read, her expression changed from irritated to horrified. Finally, she slowly looked up at Shizune.

"Get whatever essentials we'll need. We're heading back to the village immediately!" She held a hand against her forehead and closed her eyes. "To think he could get past our defenses so easily. And to think that happened to one of our best kunoichi! Sakura never should've left..."

"Sakura?" Ino said. She'd stopped next to them, a big box full of medicine in her hands. "Why? What's wrong with her?" 

* * *

It had been a week since the attack on Sakura and she was back at the hospital, this time for a pregnancy test. All the doctors had tried to convince her that it was too early, but Sakura had insisted. Now, Naruto was pacing back and forth in front of the hospital room. He stopped and scratched the back of his head as he impatiently watched the door. It was still shut.

"Gah! Why do these things have to take so long?" he complained.

"It's only been five minutes," Sai said. He was holding a basket full of 'consolation gifts,' as he called them—chocolates, apples, and a card. It was his idea, to which Naruto had quickly agreed and insisted had been his plan all along.

"But it seems so long! I hate feeling so _useless_!" He sighed and slumped into the chair next to Sai's. "I can't do anything except sit here and wait."

"Sometimes, just being there for someone and showing them you care is the most useful thing you can do," Sai said. "At least, that's what I read. The book didn't really say what kind of circumstances that worked for, though." Naruto looked down at his hands.

"Is that really all I can do?"

The hospital door finally swung open. Naruto was on his feet at once.

"So? What are the results? Tell me already!" he demanded.

"You can go in and speak with her now," the nurse said. She stepped aside and gestured for Naruto and Sai to enter the hospital room. Naruto pushed past her, impatient to see Sakura, but when he did see her, he stopped dead in his tracks. Her head was hanging and tears were pouring down her cheeks. When she saw Naruto and Sai, she looked away. That reaction could only mean one thing.

"We brought you a consolation gift to help you feel better," Sai said, placing the basket on the bedside table. Sakura said nothing. They all stood there in silence for a moment, Sakura staring at her blanket, Sai at the basket, and Naruto at the ground. There was a somber air engulfing all of them. No words had to be said—they all knew the results.

"Naruto," Sakura said suddenly. "Will you come here?"

"Huh?"

"I said _come here_!" Quickly, he obeyed, rushing to her side.

"Yeah? What do you need?" he asked. Slowly, Sai began backing away to the door, but neither of the other two seemed to notice. Sakura took a deep breath before continuing.

"I'm sure you've probably guessed it already, but I..." She closed her eyes and let out a steady breath. "I'm pregnant."

The door clicked shut, leaving Naruto and Sakura alone.

"Sakura, I don't—" Naruto began, but she shook her head, cutting him off.

"You don't have to say anything. There's nothing _to_ say. I... I just wish I would've been stronger! I made it so easy... I couldn't do anything..." The tears in her eyes welled and spilled over onto her cheeks once more.

"Sakura..." She wiped the tears from her eyes and attempted to sit up. Hastily, Naruto put his arm around her and helped her into a sitting position. She offered a faint smile.

"I'm not completely incapable yet," she said. But the smile quickly disappeared, and Naruto did not remove his arm from around her shoulders. She looked back at the bed, the wall, anywhere but the boy sitting beside her. "I just feel so ashamed! I'm supposed to be a strong kunoichi, but I couldn't even protect myself from _this_. How I feel—violated, dirty, and ugly... You could never understand. I can't even look at you. How will I face my parents? How can I when I'm like this?" Naruto's hand lightly gripped her shoulder.

"You know, Sakura," he began softly, "no matter what that jerk did to you, it's not your fault. You're still the beautiful, amazing girl I've known all my life. Nothing can ever change that." Sakura found herself staring into his bright blue eyes, so comforting and mesmerizing, and then tore her gaze away.

"Thank you," she murmured. "But I can't bear for everyone to know! My parents, our friends—I don't want them thinking I'm a weak coward! But they're going to find out about the baby, since I've decided to keep it." Naruto blinked at her.

"You're not getting an abortion?" he said for clarification.

"No, I'm not," she said firmly. "I decided before I came in here that, if I was pregnant, I was going to keep the baby. But now that I know I am pregnant, everyone else is going to find out. Unless there was a way to get them to think something else happened..." She trailed off, shooting Naruto a quick glance. Then he realized what she meant.

"Wait, you want me to pretend to be the father?" Sakura's face turned beet red.

"What? No, of course not! Why would I want that?" she exclaimed, but her face just became redder and redder. "Besides, if you did, people's opinion of you would change. No, not for me, you can't—"

"Sakura." She stopped and looked at him. She took a quick intake of breath and her heart began to flutter in her chest when she saw the tenderness in his expression. "I don't care what people think of me. If me pretending to be the father will help you handle this pain, I'll do it for however long you want me to. No one will have to know what really happened." Once again, tears began pouring down her cheeks.

"Oh, Naruto, thank you so much..." She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. After a moment of surprise, Naruto relaxed and held her closely.

"Am I interrupting anything?" a voice asked. Naruto and Sakura quickly pulled away from each other to see Tsunade leaning in the doorway, arms folded and one eyebrow raised. Standing behind her was Shizune.

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura said. Her sensei crossed the room until she was standing over the bed. Her expression softened when she looked down at Sakura.

"About five days ago, a messenger bird arrived with word of what had happened with Sasuke. I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Tsunade said.

"When we found out what happened, we came immediately," Shizune added. "Thank goodness Kakashi organized a team quickly enough to pursue Sasuke, but we're going to have to tighten security here, and—"

"Shizune!" Tsunade barked. "We'll talk about that later! Now, Sakura, I'm not going to try to explain why I'm so surprised you're trying to have a pregnancy test so early. It's only been a week since his attack on you! How could we possibly know?"

"The test came back positive," Sakura said evenly. Tsunade's mouth dropped open.

"What?" she said.

"What was that you were saying about it being early, _Grandma_?" Tsunade completely ignored Naruto and leaned over the bed.

"How is that possible? We don't have the ability to detect the unborn baby any time before three weeks!" Sakura sighed.

"I know just as much as you do. And anyway, I just had a weird feeling, so I decided to get tested… and these were the results." Tsunade bit her lip for a second before abruptly turning her back to Sakura and marching to the door. The nurse was still standing outside, her foot tapping against the polished tile floor.

"You! You're positive she's pregnant?" Tsunade asked the nurse. The nurse looked up in surprise

"Well, yes, the tests came back positive, ma'am, but could you just lower your—"

"Then come inside!" The nurse quietly obeyed, stepping carefully around Tsunade. "How could she possibly know she was pregnant so quickly? She couldn't. So that must only mean it's someone else's—" Sakura's face began turning red with anger and embarrassment.

"Hey! You think that I'd—" she started, but the nurse interrupted both of them.

"Before you two get worked up, the analysis showed that she never had intercourse before of any kind, consensual or otherwise. So this baby can only belong to the one who took advantage of her one week ago." All the anger seemed to drain from Tsunade as a shocked realization dawned on her face. "None of the doctors who have worked with her so far can explain it, but… this is how it is."

"So this _is_ Sasuke's child? But how could that be possible?" Shizune said, and shook her head. "I don't understand!"

"Hmm… I don't get it either," Tsunade mused. "Could it be something strange with Sakura's reproductive system? No, that still wouldn't make sense… Nurse, are you positive the analysis reports are correct?"

"Absolutely," she answered.

"Well, either way, we're going to have to get rid of the baby. For her to drop out of this war because of that—"

"Oh yeah? And are you just going to keep on talking about her like she's not even here? Like she's some sort of test subject?!" All eyes in the room turned to Naruto. He was no longer sitting; he was standing with clenched fists and his glare fixed right on Tsunade. "And throwing around accusations like that—what kind of sensei _are_ you?"

"Naruto—" Tsunade started, but he ignored her.

"Come on, Sakura, let's go," he said. She glanced at Tsunade before allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. Once she was standing, Naruto put his arm protectively over her shoulder and glared once more at Tsunade. "If you say another thing like that about Sakura, I'll make you wish you hadn't. I don't care if you _are_ hokage!"


	5. Chapter 4

Naruto was holding Sakura's bag as she talked to the receptionist at the hospital's welcome desk. The receptionist kept on reaching under her desk and pulling out pamphlet after pamphlet, book after book until there was a good-sized pile on the desk. Sakura said something, gave a quick bow of the head in thanks, began piling the books up into her arms, then began heading towards Naruto. The receptionist glanced over at him and gave him a dirty look before shaking her head and turning away. He'd said he wouldn't mind pretending to be the baby's father, but seeing those eyes again was not something he'd ever really wanted.

"Can I put these in my bag?" Sakura asked him as she stopped beside him.

"Oh, right. Sure, Sakura." Naruto replied and held the bag open for her. With some difficulty, she began slipping the books inside. Naruto reached out his free hand to help her steady the pile of books and pamphlets, and she gave him a quick smile. As the books and pamphlets fell in, one after another, he caught sight of some of their names: _Your First Baby, Proper Nutrition When You're Eating for Two,_ and _Motherhood: You're Greatest Mission Yet! _

"Um, Naruto?" Sakura said. He looked up at her. One of the pamphlets was still in her hand, which was shaking a considerable amount, though it wasn't from the strain of holding it. "The receptionist said to give this to you." Sakura blushed as she handed him a pamphlet that read _The Shinobi Guide to Helping Your Kunoichi Through Pregnancy._

"You don't have to..." Sakura began.

"Thanks Sakura, but it's alright." Naruto interrupted. He reached out and took the pamphlet from her hand, brushing it briefly with his own. A shiver ran down her spine. "So, I guess you told her the story that we're going to live by?"

Sakura swallowed hard, attempting to regain her composure. "Yes. I told her you were my boyfriend and the baby's father." Heat rose in her cheeks. _Did I just say that out loud?_ Naruto put his hand on her shoulder, looking down into her eyes. She couldn't look away.

"Good. That's how we want it, right?" Sakura shuddered. The look in his eyes was so tender and sweet. Emotion surged through her once again as tears began to course steadily down her cheeks. Then, without even thinking, Sakura buried her head into Naruto's shoulder, crying uncontrollably. He stroked her back and gently pressed the tip of his nose into the top of her head.

"I'll protect you, Sakura," he whispered. "Don't you worry." Everything else seemed to have disappeared—the people walking around them, the echoes as voices called across the lobby, the front doors opening and closing when people came in. The only thing that seemed real was the warmth each felt as they held each other closely.

Finally, Sakura's tears subsided and she stepped back, wiping at her eyes. She took in a shaky breath and then looked up at Naruto.

"Well, ready to go?" she asked. He smiled and nodded, and together they exited the hospital. 

* * *

Sakura lay on her bed, mulling over the events of the last week—eating ramen with Naruto, seeing Sasuke again, Sasuke doing...that to her, the results from the pregnancy test. She couldn't help but be surprised at how much it seems your world can change all in less than seven days. Subconsciously, she began massaging her lower abdomen. She hadn't had the courage to break the news to her parents yet. They were still under the impression that she'd had a run in with a low-life ninja and she'd simply gone to the hospital to rest up and that the appointment she'd had two days ago was their daughter reporting back to work. She wasn't sure when she was going to tell them. Or, for that matter, how.

_Naruto._ She remembered how he had volunteered to help her in her time of need, even to the point of soiling his own name for her sake. Now everyone was going to think that he was a good for nothing ninja that knocked up his teammate because he couldn't control himself. Was it selfish of her to ask him to do something like that? She rolled onto her side, hugging her pillow to her chest.

Naruto had come over to her house at least once every day since the ordeal had happened. She knew that her mother suspected something was up. He would talk to her, tell her about some new training that he was doing, complain about the lack of progress the Leaf Village was making in the Ninja War, anything really to keep her mind occupied and stop these soul destroying thoughts from germinating. He'd really been a true friend to her in her time of need. And the way he looked at her... what was that emotion she felt?

The soft knocking at the door pulled Sakura from her reverie. The door opened and her mother poked her head inside the room.

"There's someone here who wants to see you," she said.

"Is it Naruto?" she asked, suddenly conscious of how she looked. She briefly wondered when the last time she'd brushed her teeth was, but her mother shook her head. Sakura's face fell. Her mother smiled knowingly and winked at Sakura before stepping aside. Guilt nagged at Sakura's gut as she thought about what her mother would think when she heard the story about Naruto and Sakura. There was no doubt her high opinion of him would plummet. When she looked up again, to her surprise, it was Shikamaru standing in the doorway.

"Shikamaru?" she said. He gave a half-smile and pointed his thumb at the chair beside her bed.

"Do you mind if I...?"

"No, not at all," Sakura said. "Go ahead." He pulled out the chair and settled into it with a sigh.

"So... how are you?" he asked. Sakura just looked at him, an awkward silence growing between them.

"Fine," she finally said, regarding him warily. Had he heard the rumor about her and Naruto? Well, even that was better than dealing with the shame of the truth. Or did he know about that, too? "Not to be rude or anything, but how come you're here?" Shikamaru scratched at the bridge of his nose looking very uncomfortable. _There's no good way to say this…_ he thought. _Might as well just dive in. What a drag. _

"Well, I know about what actually happened with Sasuke," he said. Sakura's hand squeezed the blanket covering her legs, bunching up the fabric. So he did know.

"I see. So you came here to talk about it."

"Well, yeah, I did—"

"But what if I don't want to talk about it? What if I just want to sit here and not have to deal with people's pity all day long!" Shikamaru held up his hands defensively.

"No, it's not like that—"

"Look, I don't want your condolences! I don't want to talk to anybody! The only person who I can talk to, who I know won't judge me is—well, it isn't you!" She stopped herself abruptly and looked away, her face burning red. Shikamaru waited for a moment, wary of another outbreak. But apparently she'd quieted herself with something she'd said, because she was staring at her lap with a confused expression. So Shikamaru swallowed before trying once again.

"Sakura, I'm not trying to get you to talk to me or anything. I'm not going to play counselor; I know that if you wanted someone to talk to, it wouldn't be me." She was silent. "I came here strictly on terms of business, I guess you would say. Because I'm in charge of the Sasuke investigation, I need to know exactly what happened that night. What Sasuke said, how he acted—anything that could help in pinpointing his motivation and what he might do next."

"I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly.

"But if we're going to figure out what Sasuke wanted—"

"Talk to Naruto. He knows. But I... I just can't talk about it anymore. I'm sorry, Shikamaru." It was clear she wasn't going to say anything more, so Shikamaru pushed himself up to his feet and headed to the door. "Oh, and Shikamaru?" He glanced back at her. "I'm sorry about my outburst. You didn't deserve it. I've just been really angry and—" Shikamaru held up a hand.

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's fine," he said. Sakura nodded gratefully. "Well, see you around, then." She watched as he pulled open the door and left her room, leaving her to wonder why it was that the only person she could confide in was Naruto.


	6. Chapter 5

The sun was beginning to set in the distance, bathing the Leaf Village in a warm glow of dusky oranges and reds. The streets of the village were emptying as dinners began being served and children were called indoors. Shopkeepers, who had been so busy during the day, were finally able to relax as the rush of customers thinned.

Naruto, however, had no one to return to and no jobs to complete. Lately, training had become nearly impossible because every time he'd start, he'd begin thinking about Sakura, and once _that_ happened, he simply could not focus on the task at hand. So he resorted to wandering throughout the village, debating with himself whether or not enough time had passed since his last visit to Sakura to be able to visit her again.

He glanced up, immediately recognizing the polished white fence to his right and the deep green leaves hanging over it. He'd gone on this road at least twice today in his meanderings. He sighed and turned around to go another direction when something ran into his leg. Startled, he looked down to see a little head of messy black hair pressed flat against his leg. The head tilted back, revealing a young boy with a wide grin stretched across his face.

"Oh, sorry mister!" he said, scooting back. He gave an embarrassed smile and skirted around Naruto before running off on his way again. Naruto chuckled to himself. There was something about children; their innocence and cheerfulness could make anyone smile.

"Hey, Naruto, practicing for being a father, huh?" Naruto turned to see Shikamaru leaning against the fence a few feet back with his arms crossed and a half-smirk on his face. Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile.

"Well, you know..." he started. The smirk on Shikamaru's face disappeared and he pushed off against the fence.

"Actually, I know what really happened. To Sakura. Which is what I need to talk to you about."

"How do you know what happened?" Naruto asked as Shikamaru fell into step beside him. "No one was supposed to know."

"Well, I came back with Tsunade and Shizune. Ino happened to be there right when Tsunade got the messenger bird, so she insisted on going back and I ended up getting dragged back with them. But I must say, it's way better back here than in the war, I can tell you that much." Shikamaru shook his head. "Anyway, I ended up being put in charge of the investigation. Reasoning behind the attack and all that. It's a drag, but someone's gotta do it, right? I just hate having to think like people as messed up as Sasuke."

"He didn't used to be," Naruto said. He lowered his gaze to the ground. "Everyone used to look up to him and we all wanted to be just like him. Cool, smart, strong—what happened?" Shikamaru considered this for a moment.

"Even the best people can change, I guess," he said. Silence fell between them for a few steps. Finally, Shikamaru spoke. "Anyway, I tried to talk with Sakura about what happened, but she didn't really want to talk to me about it. I don't blame her, but still, I need to know."

"So? Why're you telling me this?" Naruto asked.

"Are you an idiot? If she didn't want to tell me, wouldn't it make sense that I talk to someone else?"

"Ooohhh, you want to talk to me instead," he said. "Well why didn't you just say so then? Geez." Shikamaru rubbed his forehead with his palm and shook his head.

"Let's just get on with it, all right? Tell me everything that happened." So Naruto detailed all the events—how Sakura was trapped in the mangekyo sharingan for what seemed like a week to her, all of Sasuke's comments, and how Sasuke ran immediately after Naruto arrived. Shikamaru listened to all this without saying a word. Finally, when the account was finished, he nodded.

"I see... I figured from the beginning that Sasuke's goal was to have a child to continue the Uchiha line. Why else would he go through all the trouble of getting through our barriers? Besides, he never really seemed like the horny kind of guy."

"Oh, so that's what he wanted?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, you said it yourself—Sasuke said that he was going to use her to restore his clan. What else would that possibly mean besides him wanting to produce an Uchiha heir?" Naruto folded his arms and stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

"I don't know. Why don't you talk to your smart investigation buddies about your guesses! Hmph!" Shikamaru grimaced and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"Just shut up and help me here, okay? Now that we know what Sasuke's motivation was… well, we still need to figure out why he chose Sakura. How does he feel about her?"

"He sure doesn't seem to care about her. He's tried to kill her before!" He kicked a rock in front of him, watching as it skidded for a few feet before stopping. It took Naruto a moment to notice that Shikamaru had stopped. He turned to see him staring at the ground, his eyebrows knit together in concentration.

"A little strange, don't you think?" he said, looking up at Naruto.

"What's strange?"

"He goes from wanting to kill her to wanting to use her to restore his clan. If I remember right, he's had this goal of bringing back his clan even before he left for Orochimaru. Well that means that this particular plan of his is fairly new, because at the time, he wouldn't have tried to kill Sakura if he was going to use her. It also means that he hasn't really worried too much about figuring out how to accomplish this until now, otherwise he would've done it already."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Now this is just a guess, but it almost seems like Sasuke's hurrying to try to have a kid. He wants to make sure the Uchiha line is preserved in case something happens to him," Shikamaru said. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wait—you mean, in case he dies?" he asked.

"Bingo. I think he's planning on doing something particularly dangerous which was why he hurried up in having a kid, even going so far as to sneak into the village to do it. But still, so much of his plan doesn't make sense… There are so many risks involved. And why would he have picked Sakura?" He began walking again, this time at a much more rapid pace than before. He stared intently at the dirt path in front of him as he thought, his eyes narrowed. "Naruto, how does Sakura feel about Sasuke? And what does Sasuke think she feels for him?" Sadness crept into Naruto's eyes and he hung his head.

"She's completely in love with him. At least, she was."

"And does Sasuke know this?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah." Naruto's hands clenched into fists and he looked up at Shikamaru. "He knew exactly how she felt about him, and still he did this to her!" His voice became quieter as he continued. "I've always wanted to bring Sasuke back. It was the one thing that I kept holding onto. But after what he's done... What would you do?" Shikamaru frowned a little, then shrugged.

"I don't know, Naruto. He's your teammate; the call's yours. As for me, I think I've got enough information to keep me busy for a while. I'm gonna go home and then hit the books tomorrow morning. See you later, and good luck with that baby of yours!" As he walked off, hand raised in the air in farewell, Naruto sighed and turned down the road that led back to his apartment.

_A father, huh? What happens when the baby grows up and gets the sharingan? What will people think then?_ He firmly pushed these thoughts from his mind. This whole act was for Sakura's sake—when she was ready to face the truth, he would be willing to step aside. Until then, he would be the child's father. 

* * *

The library table was so completely covered with books and scrolls that barely an inch of tabletop was visible. The only thing on it that was not made of paper or leather binding was a dark head of spiky black hair that poked straight up into the air. His forehead was planted flat against the book in front of him and his eyes were closed, his green chunin vest slowly rising and falling with the steadiness of his breathing. It was quiet and peaceful; everything a library should be…

"You shouldn't drool on paper."

"Ahh!" Startled from peaceful slumber, Shikamaru abruptly shot up, his eyes wide open. It took him a moment to recognize the girl in front of him—long blonde hair covering one eye, purple midriff shirt and skirt. Shikamaru sighed and slouched in his chair, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.

"Ino, you should know better than to interrupt me when I'm studying," he said wearily. She raised an eyebrow.

"Studying? That sure looked a lot like _sleeping_ to me." She stood up and leaned over the table, examining the covers of the books scattering the table. Shikamaru rolled his eyes but resigned himself to her usual snooping. "_The Stages of Pregnancy?_ Shikamaru, why are you reading that?" His face turned bright pink and he glanced away.

"It's not like I was reading it for _my_ sake." Ino straightened up from the table and folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh really? It seems to me that you and that Temari girl from the Sand Village have been getting pretty _cozy_ on the battlefield lately," she said. The pink that had been creeping onto Shikamaru's face flushed into a very deep shade that was undeniably red.

"Ugh, you're such a pain, Ino! Why do girls have to be so _annoying_? Of course it's not like that!" Ino regarded him carefully. What he said was probably true, but still, he was much too embarrassed for there to be absolutely no shard of truth to what she'd said. "Anyway, could you get out of here? I have important research to get to and you're in my way."

"Oh, that's no way to treat a lady! You're going to have to get better or you'll chase Temari off!" she said with a wink.

"Ino!" he sighed, clearly exasperated. She let out a short little giggle and wiggled her fingers in goodbye.

"See you around, Shikamaru! And as for the pregnancy books, I'm not even gonna ask." She started to leave, then turned back with a smirk. "Oh, and by the way, you've got some ink on your face."

"Like I care."

"Just thought you'd like to know!" she sang, and then waltzed through the exit. When the door slammed shut behind her, Shikamaru hesitated before wiping at his cheek.

"Females. They're such a drag." 

* * *

Night was falling, the setting sun's colors painting streaks through the open windows of the Nara home. After a long day of studying in the library, Shikamaru was now sitting in front of a shogi game. His chin rested in his hand as he lazily shifted pieces across the table, mulling over the information he knew for the investigation.

Sasuke attacks Sakura, seemingly unprovoked and out of the blue. From what he'd gathered from Naruto, that was obviously done to restore his clan. But why Sakura? Why not that Karin girl who's part of his group? Knowing her, she'd probably offer herself willingly to his cause. _Well, if I were in his position and I had some plan, I wouldn't want my pieces to be unplayable._ He picked up one of the pieces and moved it forward a space. He has a plan that uses Karin, then. So, why not some random girl? _Nah, he'd want to know the girl, so he could be certain that she'd be a good mother and be sure that she's strong. He couldn't take any chances with someone random—besides, if it were random, she'd almost definitely get an abortion immediately._ Okay, so why not Ino or Hinata? He knew them too. _Well, that's easy. He knew Sakura extremely well from when they were teammates, and from what Naruto said, Sasuke is aware that Sakura still has, or had, feelings for him._ Taking advantage of those feelings was smart. It probably made her more likely to keep the baby.

"But that plan could also backfire," he muttered. He picked up a piece and rubbed it between his thumb and pointer finger. _If someone had a strong attachment to somebody else and felt that sort of betrayal, it's almost just as likely that she'd get rid of the baby out of hurt alone. You can't count on either reaction..._ He was so close he could almost reach out and touch it, but it was like every time he took a step forward the answer moved back just enough so his fingers barely missed it. He set the shogi piece back on the board and placed his hands in his customary thinking position—palms facing upward, fingers all touching to form an O-shape, and he closed his eyes.

_If I were Sasuke, I wouldn't want to take that kind of risk. I'd want to keep her with me to make sure she kept the baby and to keep her and the child under my personal protection._ But he didn't. Why did he leave her? It's not like Naruto arriving scared him away. He didn't even try to fight Naruto for Sakura, he just left. It was like he wanted Naruto to be there and was leaving Sakura in his protection... And then on top of it, Sakura was given the pill only thirty minutes after the incident—from all his studying, he knew that usually, thirty minutes isn't enough time to have the egg fertilized. What did Sasuke do that would guarantee its fertilization? What was different about this case?

_The mangekyo sharingan!_ His eyebrows narrowed in concentration and he subconsciously began to chew on his lower lip. _Yes, that's it! The key! The doctors mentioned how the first stages of Sakura's pregnancy were unnaturally fast. In a week, she progressed to the three week stage. That's how they were able to confirm her as pregnant so quickly. Her being in the mangekyo sharingan for a virtual week must have sped up her pregnancy—and Sasuke was counting on that! He had to get her egg fully fertilized before he gave her back to the village so the pill would have no effect. A week would be more than enough time to make sure that she was impregnated._But her week in the mangekyo sharingan ended up having the same effect on her as two weeks in reality would be. Did Sasuke know that it was like two weeks passing, or not? _No, that's not important right now. When it becomes important, I'll come back to it. _

With the mangekyo sharingan, he had ensured her pregnancy. But why did he give her back to the village? It was obviously all intentional, him giving her back. The necessary medical treatments Sakura needed... could Karin have been able to treat her? _Physically, yes. Emotionally, definitely not. If Sasuke had kidnapped her, she probably couldn't have recovered. Sasuke wouldn't want his child having an unstable mother. She could only recover here. But after she recovers..._

Shikamaru's eyes shot open. "I've got it!" 

* * *

"It just doesn't add up." Tsunade was hunched over her desk, her head resting in her palms. "Why would one of the Leaf's most wanted criminals go to all of the trouble of sneaking into the village just to rape Sakura?"

"Do you suppose Sasuke had some ulterior motive?" Shizune asked as she brushed aside some of the papers that were scattered all over the hokage's desk. When she did, Sasuke Uchiha's page from the anbu black ops bingo book was revealed.

"Oh, I have no doubt. From our experience with Sasuke, he is not one to act at random." Tsunade reached out and took the book into her hand, staring into his photo. Those impenetrable black eyes, the cool, distant demeanor of his expression… She sighed and set the page down, drumming her carefully manicured nails on the desk. "I feel as if that thing he implanted in her is all part of some plan."

"So then we need to perform the abortion for Sakura very soon, for her own health and safety! We can't afford to allow Sasuke's plan to progress!" Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Tsunade called. The door creaked open and Shikamaru stepped into the room, a bored expression on his face. "Ah, just the person I wanted to see. So tell me, have you made any progress on the Sakura case?"

Shikamaru sighed and pulled his hands out of his pockets. "Yeah, though I don't think it's something you really wanna hear."

"I doubt any motivation behind something like that would be something I want to hear," she said. "So, what did you find out?"

"Well, to sum up, Sasuke's going to be attacking the village in probably two or three days." Shizune, who was pouring Tonton some milk, entirely missed the bowl and spilled all over the wood floor.

"What?" she gasped. Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure?" she said. Shikamaru nodded grimly.

"Positive. Sasuke's going to be back in the next few days to get Sakura. He only left her in the village so she would recover. He was always intending to come back for her, to make sure she's protected and to make sure that she doesn't get rid of the baby. But he miscalculated. He was going to come back when he thought she was three weeks pregnant, right before we'd be able to tell if she was pregnant or not. What he didn't count on was that the mangekyo sharingan sped up her pregnancy by an entire week more than he meant for it to." Tsunade leaned forward, resting her chin on her fist.

"So it was the mangekyo sharingan..." she said.

"Yeah. It's the only possible explanation behind why her pregnancy was so fast. It couldn't have been some weird mutation that only Sakura has, because there would've been other documented cases of the same thing. It couldn't have been anyone else's baby because all the tests disproved that theory. The only other reason left was the sharingan, and it makes perfect sense considering she spent a week in that thing."

"Okay, but how does all this add up to Sasuke coming back?" Tsunade asked. Shikamaru started to answer, but someone else interrupted him.

"Sasuke Uchiha? Coming back to the village?" an old woman said. Tsunade's faced darkened as the two village council members entered the room.

"Koharu, Homura," she said distastefully, "how _nice_ of you to join us."


	7. Chapter 6

Tsunade's hand slammed against the desk and she rose to her feet.

"No! I will not allow you to treat my student that way!" she yelled. The elderly man was completely unfazed.

"Tsunade, this issue has nothing to do with what is traditionally thought appropriate or not. If we don't act now, that girl's condition will serve as a threat to herself and the village." Tsunade bit her lip, glancing at Shizune. Her dark hair was covering her face as she stared sheepishly at the floor. Of course she was the one to tell the village elders of the issue in spite of Tsunade's direct orders not to. _Of course._

"I don't care what you people say—Sakura was a victim, not a criminal! I agree that she needs extra protection, but locking her up in the anbu headquarters is—"

"It's the best protection we can offer. Nobody can get through the black ops barriers, and even if they could, the guards are more than capable of protecting it," Koharu said. Her face was lined with deep wrinkles that grew deeper with disapproval. It looked like an old, crumpled piece of paper.

"Once she's taken into custody, we will perform the abortion and keep her under our supervision until after Sasuke attacks the village. That way, she stays out of harm," Homura added. Tsunade's teeth clenched. They had a point. If Sakura was kept in the anbu base, it was almost guaranteed that she would be safe.

"Will Sakura have any say whatsoever in the decision to keep her baby or not?" she asked.

"That thing represents a real national threat to our village," Koharu scoffed. "The Uchiha is a formidable clan—why, three of the most dangerous ninja of our time have come from that very clan!"

"But it's just a baby!"

"And babies grow up," Homura said, tugging at his gray beard. "I'm afraid that the village cannot afford to take any chances in this case. Sasuke Uchiha _must_ be prevented from restoring the Uchiha clan. As hokage of the village, it is your responsibility to ensure that the village is protected at all costs, no matter what."

Tsunade shoved her chair into her desk and stalked to the window, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. She couldn't dissuade their logic, no matter how she thought about it. And she had to agree that she thought that an abortion would be the wisest course of action—in fact, she had been planning on advising Sakura to do just that. Sighing in defeat, she turned to face the council members again.

"How soon can a safe house be prepared for Sakura?"

The old woman smiled, her horrible teeth, or what was left of them, gleaming. "No later than tomorrow evening."

* * *

Nightfall found Sakura standing in the aisle of the drugstore, comparing labels. The infamous morning sickness had finally reared its ugly head in her direction, giving her bouts of nausea and fatigue. Not willing to put up with such nonsense, Sakura had begun seeking out the best remedies for pregnant women available.

_Hmmm, this says it works well for keeping your energy up, but the ingredients list makes no sense._ She sighed, leaning against the fixture, lifting the other medicine she was considering to the light. _24 hour relief—that's gotta be a joke..._ "What, is it supposed to make me not pregnant?" she said aloud.

"Is that you, Billboard Brow?" a familiar voice jeered. Sakura turned quickly to see Ino peering around the corner of the herbal remedies aisle.

"Ino?" Sakura asked. "I thought you were still fighting in the war."

"Well, I was. I had to come back though." Ino gave Sakura a quick smile, then looked at what Sakura was holding. "Are you not feeling well?" Blushing, Sakura tossed the box back on the shelf, but not before Ino was able to grab another sample from the shelf.

"Prenatal Remedy for the Expectant Mother..." she read. Ino looked up at her friend. "Sakura... are you pregnant?"

Sakura hesitated, looking away. It was all so sudden how it seemed everyone was finding out about her condition. She silently wished that she could just go away for a few months and not have to face everyone's judging eyes. She let out a deep breath, then nodded.

"It's still a surprise for me too," she said quietly. "Naruto and I didn't expect it to be this way. We just thought..."

"Whoa, what?" Ino interrupted. "Naruto and you? But didn't Sasuke just..."

Sakura instantly stiffened. "What did you hear about Sasuke?"

Ino sighed. "I was there when Tsunade received the official news from the hawk right after you were... taken advantage of. That's actually the reason I'm back in the Leaf Village." Ino crossed her arms, her eyes scanning the aisle they were standing in before looking back at her friend. "It's his baby, isn't it." Sakura didn't answer. She felt the tears that she'd been dealing with ever since that horrible night threaten to flow again.

"So, when are you going to take care of it?" Ino asked. Sakura looked at her questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"When are you going to get rid of it?"

"Get rid of what?"

"Sasuke's baby! The one he made inside you when he raped you!" Ino hadn't meant to yell, but suddenly it felt like everyone's attention was focused on the two girls. Sakura turned her back to Ino, concealing her emotions.

"Maybe it is because of him that I have this baby." Sakura swallowed, then chose her next words carefully. "But it's not just his baby. I am the mother; it's my baby too."

Ino was taken aback. _Is this really Sakura?_ "But it's going to ruin your life!" she argued. "You won't be able to help fight in the war ever again. The Leaf needs you. We all need you. How can you do that to us?" Sorrow etched it's way upon Sakura's face, shattering the mask of complacency she'd woven to disguise her true feelings.

"I know," she said in a small voice, "But I just can't kill my baby." With that, she hurried out of the drugstore, leaving a very confused Ino in the aisle, wondering what change had come over her friend.

* * *

Finally, after an unnecessarily long debate about which anbu hideout Sakura would be sent to, how long she would stay, and how exactly this entire plan was going to work, the two village council members left the room side by side. By now, it must have been nearing midnight. The moon hovered high in the sky, a giant white orb shedding sparse light on the world below.

"You're really going to lock her up?" Shikamaru asked.

"What choice do I have?" Tsunade sighed. "You said it yourself. Sasuke is coming back any day now with the singular intention of retrieving Sakura. Or, more accurately, his child that Sakura is carrying. We absolutely cannot allow that to happen, for her sake and the village's."

"M'lady, what about Kakashi and Team Kurenai's pursuit of Sasuke?" Shizune asked.

"Send a hawk requiring them to return at once. With the information that Sasuke will be returning back to the village, there is no need to continue chasing after him. Besides, we need whatever intelligence they have gathered analyzed right away."

"Yes, m'lady!" Shizune quickly bowed her head, then hurried from the office. Shikamaru moved to follow her, but Tsunade's voice held him in place.

"Shikamaru, wait," she said. Reluctantly he turned back to face the hokage. She was looking guiltily down at her desk. Obviously this wasn't quite the solution she'd been looking for. "I want you to tell Sakura about our decision."

"Wha—oh, come on!" he complained. Tsunade ignored him.

"I want to give her time to prepare whatever belongings she'll need, and to be aware of what's going to be happening." Shikamaru wanted to protest more—mention how good of a job he'd done on the investigation, perhaps, and argue that he'd already done more than his fair share with Sakura's problem, but the look on Tsunade's face made him decide against it.

"All right, fine. I'll tell her." He started to leave, then muttered, "But I'm not really looking forward to being her punching bag." _What a pain this whole thing is turning into._

* * *

"RASENGAN!" The massive ball of rapidly spinning chakra slammed into the tree trunk in front of Naruto, and in an overwhelming moment of force against sturdy wood, the rasengan blew through an entire row of trees. Naruto's hand fell to his side and he fell back a few steps, panting. The powerful jutsu had left a wake of immense destruction behind it; where once had been a dense forest of fifty trees was now a clearing with shattered wood and wisps of leaves that had managed to survive.

This incredible jutsu took considerable strength and energy, but still...

"What am I doing?" Naruto muttered. "I mastered this jutsu forever ago." He frowned, kicking at a piece of wood in front of him. All of his training recently had been like this; unfocused, mindless repeating of jutsus that he'd already mastered. Instead of working to strengthen new jutsus or increase his strength, he'd just been going through jutsus that no longer needed work while his mind hovered elsewhere.

_Sakura..._ No matter how he looked at the situation, there seemed to be absolutely nothing he could do. It was impossible to change the past. Sakura couldn't just forget what had happened to her either, even if she did decide to have an abortion. Sure, getting rid of the baby would make things easier, but she wasn't going to take the easy way out. She was going to stick through whatever hell Sasuke had put her in until the very end, and that, Naruto realized, was one of the things he loved most about her.

He sighed and lay down on the grass, staring up at the blue sky. _Oh, Sakura..._ His eyes closed and a smile started on his face. _I know you don't believe me whenever I tell you, but you really are the most beautiful, amazing girl I've ever met. _

A rustling to his left immediately grabbed his attention. His eyes shot open and he looked subtly to the side, preparing for any attack. But he relaxed as he realized the person he saw wasn't a threat of any kind—at least, that's what he thought at first.

"Oh, hey Sakura!" he greeted, pushing himself up into a sitting position. She was standing in the middle of the clearing, her head lowered and staring at the ground. She gave no move to even acknowledge that she had heard him speak. "Uh... Sakura?" Slowly, her head raised up, and the expression on her face was one of pure death.

"_Naruto..._" Naruto gulped. This voice was no good—it was the one she always used whenever she was _ticked_ at him. Her eyes glinted and in a second she was running at him, her arm lifted in the air. Naruto held his hands out pleadingly in front of him, waving them around hopelessly.

"No, Sakura, it isn't—" Her fist met him squarely in the stomach, tossing him a good few yards back before he landed painfully on his back.

"Idiot! Trees don't just sprout out of the ground in a day, you know! You had no reason to go blasting through a huge section of them for no reason!" she yelled, advancing towards him once more. Naruto scrambled onto his knees and began scooting backwards.

"But you never used to care about blowing up trees before!" he said.

"Yeah, and I also used to never care about babies and being a mother!" Naruto's face contorted into a wince as he awaited the next blow, but it never came. Chancing one eye open, his jaw dropped at what he saw.

Collapsed on her knees with her hands covering her face, Sakura was crying. And not just a little whimper anymore, but a full-blown moan from the deepest part of the gut. Her hands lowered from her face and her arms wrapped around her middle as she rocked back and forth on her knees, her mouth set in a frown that spoke of utmost despair. Naruto could only stare. What had just happened? She'd gone from being crazy and angry to crying in two seconds? Slowly, Naruto regained his sense of mind to realize that when there was a crying female, she wasn't to be stared at, but should be comforted.

"Uh, Sakura," he said, rushing to his feet. "I'm really sorry about the... trees. I didn't know they meant that much to you." In the middle of her sobs, she choked out a laugh that ended up morphing into more of a mutilated groan. He crouched next to her and awkwardly put his arm around her shoulder. As soon as he touched her, she threw her face into his chest and grabbed the fabric of his jacket, holding it against her cheek. Naruto wrapped his arms around her, holding her protectively.

"Sakura, it's okay to cry. I'll stay with you," he said softly. So they stood there together, in the middle of the training ground, until her sobs died away to a soft whimper.

"I'm sorry," she said finally, her cheek against his chest. "I don't know what's come over me. One minute I'm fine, then the next I'm crying."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing for making you so upset. I was being stup—" Sakura pushed herself away from the hug and laughed, keeping her hands pressed against Naruto's chest. But despite her smile, her eyes were puffy and tears streaked her face.

"I wasn't crying about the trees, and I shouldn't have gotten angry about that. I was just overreacting... I was watching you train and suddenly I just got so angry that you killed all those trees—you should be more careful about conserving them, you know!" Naruto held up his hands in defeat and gave a sheepish smile.

"Okay, okay, I'll remember that!" he said. Sakura nodded.

"Good." Her gaze traveled to the horizon, and Naruto's followed. The sun was about halfway up the sky, indicating that it was still late morning. He looked back at Sakur's tired face, concern shining in his eyes.

"So, if you weren't crying about the trees, what were you crying about?" She sighed and looked back at Naruto.

"I don't know. I just... I started getting morning sickness yesterday, and a friend said something yesterday that upset me a little. But still, that's no excuse. I've been such a wreck lately, so pathetic—"

"That's not true, Sakura. You're amazing! I've always thought so, even when we were little kids," he said. He smile at her warmly, and heat rose to her cheeks. She stared into his beautiful blue eyes before she could no longer and looked away. "You know what?" he started slowly, a wry grin spreading across his face. "I think we need to go do something. Just the two of us."

A flutter grew in her chest, accompanying the red on her cheeks. "I don't know Naruto... I haven't been feeling too well..."

"Then I'll carry you."

"What? Naruto, please don't..." she protested, but to no avail. He swept towards her, scooped her up with a laugh, then leaped up into the trees.

* * *

They sat together on a bench atop the Hokage mountain hike, admiring the faces of the village's leaders. Naruto had taken her all over the village, visiting various shops and sites, giving her the royal treatment. She was thoroughly embarrassed by all of the attention he was giving her, not to mention all of the attention they had earned from the villagers watching them on their outing. Still, she was glad to have him with her, even if the nature of their relationship was all a farce. Ino's words repeated through her mind for what seemed to be the hundredth time: _"You won't be able to help fight in the war ever again. The Leaf needs you. We all need you. How can you do that to us?"_ Was she really letting everyone down if she kept this baby?

But being with Naruto, she felt a sense of calm and understanding from him. He understood her reasoning and he was going to support her in any decision she made, no matter the consequence. Even if everyone was going to think badly of him because of it.

"Naruto," she suddenly asked, shifting her position on the bench so she was facing him, "why are you being so nice to me?"

He turned his eyes towards her, a confused look on his face. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said slowly, "why are you doing so much for me?" Naruto placed his hands on the bench behind him and leaned back, looking up at the sky.

"Because you're important to me, Sakura, and I just want to see you happy." He looked at her and smiled his sweet, goofy grin. An unfamiliar feeling swept through Sakura as she saw him sitting beside her, the embodiment of complete selflessness all for her sake. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, then asked, "What about Sasuke?" A breeze stirred the stagnant air as she stared into his eyes, awaiting his answer.

"Sasuke..." Naruto finally said, "is someone I want to see happy too. He needs help, but I just don't know how to help him." Frustration wrinkled his brow and he turned his face away, his hands forming into fists.

"Naruto?" she asked. He glanced up at her, then looked back down at the ground. "Do you think I'm being stupid for keeping his baby?" Surprise flashed across his face and he lifted his head up to look at her.

"What? Why would I think that? Of course I don't!" Sakura bit her lip, her fingers running restlessly across the rough surface of their stone bench.

"Ino talked to me yesterday. She thought that I was being ridiculous for keeping the baby. She said it would ruin my life, and she asked me how I could keep it after what Sasuke did to me." She took a shaky breath, placing her hands on her abdomen. "But... I love this baby inside me. It did nothing to deserve my hate—the baby isn't responsible for Sasuke's actions. Yet even more, I feel like if I keep this baby, it'll be like Sasuke got a second chance to do it right. This baby will become who Sasuke could've been, and no matter what anyone says, I just can't get myself to get rid of it."

"Then you shouldn't," he said, tenderness in his eyes. "Ino has no idea what you're going through, so you shouldn't worry about what she said. Keep the baby. It's what you want to do." She smiled.

"Thank you, Naruto." She opened her mouth to say more, but at that moment, the morning sickness she'd been battling from the second she awoke decided to make itself known to her again. Sakura suddenly began feeling light-headed, unfortunately tearing her attention away from the conversation at hand. It was a shame that she'd left the drugstore so abruptly without purchasing any supplements, but that could not be helped. She'd have to make do with something else. A place to rest her head would be nice... and Naruto's shoulder looked quite perfect. Despite what her cautious, sensible side was saying, nausea won over sensibility. Quietly, she laid her head on his shoulder, feeling an instant sense of relief in her symptoms.

Naruto's shoulder instantly tensed when her head made contact. "Um, Sakura? Are you okay—"

"My head hurts, I'm feeling nauseous, and I'm tired!" she shot defensively, her face growing red despite the nausea. "I just need to rest my head. That's it."

"Oh, right," Naruto said, his face reddening as well. They sat for a few minutes like that, her head resting on his shoulder, facing the carved heads of the hokage. Naruto stole a look at his teammate. Beneath that tough kunoichi bravada, he saw a vulnerable young girl with many insecurities. Yet, despite everything working against her, she was one of the bravest, most selfless women he'd ever known. She was so beautiful, resting her head on his shoulder, small beads of sweat forming on her brow. Without even thinking, he tilted his head towards hers, resting it in the top of her pink hair. Then, ever so slowly, he reached his arm over and placed his hand on her opposite arm, holding her in a wide embrace. In all of this, she did not try to break away or shoo his gestures in spite of the increasing rapidness of her beating heart. Him holding her was far better than any herbal remedy could ever be.


	8. Chapter 7

Sakura couldn't help but smile as she walked along the hike's descending path. Somehow, Naruto had known exactly what she needed—something to prove to herself that she was still able and competent in spite of the child inside of her. This hike had given her a chance to stretch her legs, get some fresh air, and move around instead of moping. In fact, she now felt like an entirely different person.

"Naruto?" He looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I want to thank you for today. It really helped me feel a lot better, and..." she trailed off, watching as the hokage faces became smaller as they walked further away. "...well, the next time we go on this hike, I expect to see your face up there next to Lady Tsunade's." Naruto's surprised expression quickly gave way to a grin.

"Of course, Sakura! You know that'll happen. And hopefully it's soon, because I'm already looking forward to a _fourth_ date!" Sakura grimaced, though it was quite forced.

"How did I get roped into going on that many dates with you?" she muttered, rubbing at the corners of her eyes. Naruto chuckled and seemed like he was about to say more, but someone cut in.

"Sakura! Naruto!" They turned to see Shikamaru waving his hand as he rushed towards them. "Gee, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Hey Shikamaru! What's up?" Naruto asked cheerfully, the effect of the date keeping him in good spirits. The annoyance in Shikamaru's face instantly disappeared and he glanced to the side.

"Well actually, I've got some pretty bad news for you... Yeah, you're not gonna like it." Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks.

"What kind of bad news?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck.

"Just don't blame me, okay? I'm not the one who signed you up for this mess."

"What mess? Spit it out already!" Naruto demanded. Shikamaru sighed and stuffed a hand into his pocket.

"Anytime now, members of the anbu black ops are going to be taking you into custody," he said, looking straight at Sakura. She froze. Custody? Why?

"What?" Naruto said. "That doesn't make any sense! The anbu only take orders from Grandma Tsunade!"

"Yeah, and she gave them orders to keep her at the anbu base," Shikamaru replied, jabbing a thumb in Sakura's direction. Naruto's teeth grit together.

"And why would she order that? Huh?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Look, I told you it wasn't my decision. I'm only doing what the hokage told me to do—warning you about what's gonna happen so that you'll be prepared for it."

"Yeah, and we'll never go along with—" Sakura's hand gently touched Naruto's shoulder, stopping him mid-sentence. He twisted his neck to look at her, curiosity in his eyes, but she was directly facing Shikamaru.

"Why do they want to keep me there? Lady Tsunade would never do something like that just to hurt me. That isn't like her at all. So why would they want to lock me up?"

"For your protection, obviously," he said. Sakura and Naruto just blinked at him.

"Obvious? How is that obvious?" Naruto asked. After a moment, Shikamaru gave a short laugh.

"Oh right, I forgot that you guys hadn't heard yet. About the whole issue with Sasuke coming back." Sakura's heart began to race in her chest, but not with the excitement of times past. The very sound of Sasuke's name made her heart pound and her head light—with terror. "After talking to you, Naruto, I figured out that Sasuke's going to be coming back in the next few days to try to take Sakura with him so that he can make sure that the baby is born. That's why they want to lock you up, Sakura. They don't want you being with him for the next nine months."

"Yeah, but—but I can protect her myself!" Naruto protested. "That isn't fair for her to be kept in the anbu base like some kind of prisoner!"

"Shikamaru. When are they going to come for me?"

"Well, since it took me such a long time to find you guys, it'll probably be any time now. I don't know exactly. Just whenever the cell is set up and Tsunade gives the order." Sakura's eyes narrowed in determination.

"I'm not going to just sit in some cell doing nothing while everyone works hard and sacrifices themselves to protect me. Just because I endured something awful doesn't mean that I'm weak—if anything, it's made me stronger, and I'm not going to be treated in any other way!" she said. A wind snaked up the street, tossing aside Sakura's pink layers. "I didn't train all these years with Lady Tsunade for nothing. I will use what she taught me to protect myself, and this baby." Naruto's entire face shone with admiration, but Shikamaru merely shrugged.

"You don't have to convince me," he said. "The one you have to convince is Tsunade, and you don't have very much time." A jolt shot through Sakura's body as Naruto firmly took her hand in his own.

"Then we'd better get going, Sakura," he said. She tried to ignore the fluttering sensation in her chest and her pounding heart—this was no time for such frivolous feelings!—but the more she tried to ignore them, the more prominent they became. The feeling of her hand and his hand, pressed tight against each other was... well, it wasn't unpleasant, if she was to be completely honest. And she had just been resting her head on his shoulder for quite a long time. But there was something about this, their hands interlocking with each other, that was somewhat different. Her conflicting thoughts were so aggravating that finally she yanked her hand out of Naruto's and held it against her side. Naruto looked at her in surprise, but before she could say anything, a ninja clad in blue and gray seemed to appear from thin air. By the clothes and the white lion mask he wore, it was obvious that this was a member of the anbu black ops.

"Sakura Haruno, by order of the fifth hokage, we, the anbu black ops, are to take you into custody for your protection against village enemies." He was flanked on both sides by shinobi, both with the animal anbu masks that displayed their prestigious status. Naruto stepped forward and held his arm out in front of Sakura protectively.

"No way is she going with you!" His knees were bent and ready for action at any moment.

"Naruto! Don't be an idiot!" Shikamaru yelled. The two outside anbu stepped forward, their hands pressed together in the tora hand sign. Sakura lowered Naruto's arm and moved to stand beside him, but she was suddenly overcome by an intense nausea. She let out a moan and grasped at her middle, doing all she could to simply stand.

"If you don't turn her over to us, we will have no choice but to use force," the anbu in the middle said, gesturing to his two comrades. Naruto grit his teeth, but gave no sign of backing down.

"Naruto," Sakura said weakly. He kept his eyes on the anbu in front of him, but she could tell by the flicker across his face as he heard his name that he was listening. "Please, I don't want you to fight them. There's no point to this. I'll just have them take me to Lady Tsunade and then we can figure everything out ourselves." She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she had the energy to attempt to try any technique to nullify the pain she now felt. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"And I don't want you getting hurt either," he said softly. He drew a kunai from his pouch and broke into a run. "Which is why I can't let them take you!" The anbu lunged forward.

"Shadow possession jutsu!" Naruto froze dead in his tracks. He literally could not move. Then, as if on its own, his body began to move, slowly, back away from the anbu.

"Wh—what the—!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it, a black ribbon connecting him to Shikamaru. That's when he realized what had happened.

"Shikamaru! What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. "You got the wrong person! I'm not the one you need to get!" The anbu stepped back, allowing Shikamaru to lead Naruto away from them.

"I told you already to not be an idiot, and what did you do? You went and decided to be an idiot! You don't take on anbu, especially in the middle of a village where there are going to be tons of reinforcements! Besides, did you even listen to what Sakura said? She doesn't want you to fight them!"

"Thank you, Shikamaru," Sakura said. She walked directly to the group of anbu, avoiding any eye contact with Naruto as she did. "I can handle this myself."

"Are you ready to go?" the lion-masked anbu inquired. Sakura took a deep breath and nodded.

"Sakura! No! What are you doing?" Naruto cried, pushing with all his might against Shikamaru's jutsu. "You can't let them take you like this!" She offered a small smile.

"It's only a few days, Naruto. It's not like I'm dying or anything. Besides, I'm going to talk with Lady Tsunade and try to see if there's any other solution. So you don't have to worry about me at all," she said.

"Please, follow me," the anbu said. Sakura followed after him, the other two trailing behind her, and all Naruto could do was watch as Sakura was taken away from him.

* * *

It had taken Naruto a while, but finally, on the condition that Shikamaru would tell him everything about Sakura's temporary imprisonment, he stopped complaining to Shikamaru about how cheap a move his shadow possession was, and how it stopped him from protecting Sakura.

The two walked under the cover of the trees as they headed to Shikamaru's home in the midst of the Nara forest. A cool breeze shuffled the leaves and along with it, carried Shikamaru's voice as he spoke.

"Her room is really nice, apparently. It's not like they're putting her in a jail cell or anything. Oh yeah, and they're doing the abortion in three days, I think." Naruto spun on him, the dimness of dusk emphasizing the whites of his eyes as he gaped.

"What?!" he exclaimed. Shikamaru blinked in surprise.

"Uhh... they're going to have the abortion in three days?" Agony worked its way onto Naruto's face. His bright blue eyes darkened and his teeth clenched.

"No, they can't do that," he whispered. She was already broken enough; this would completely shatter her. From the way she spoke of this baby, he knew she loved it more than words could describe. And to force her to take it away was— "No! They can't do that!" he repeated. "Shikamaru, we've gotta get her out of there!" Shikamaru gave Naruto a look that clearly said, 'Are you serious?'

"Do you have any idea how difficult that would be? The anbu base isn't considered one of the most fortified and protected places for no reason, you know. Even I would have a hard time figuring out how to get in there," he said. All around him, cicadas chirped in the trees, offering their contribution to the evening's music. Naruto groaned and shook his head.

"We've gotta do something!" They had finally reached Shikamaru's home, a nice wooden house secluded from the rest of the village within the forest.

"And like I said, there's nothing we can do."

"But there is—" Naruto started, but Shikamaru moaned in annoyance. He threw open the front door and stepped inside before turning around to face Naruto once more.

"For the last time, I'm not helping you break Sakura out!" The door slammed in Naruto's face, but not before he wedged his foot in the corner of the door.

"Come on! You've got to help me figure out how we can get her out of there!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes and slumped into a chair by the front door.

"And why would I do that? Lady Tsunade gave the anbu orders to keep her safe-guarded, so why would I want to break her out?" Naruto stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

"They're going to force her to abort the baby," he said softly. "You've said yourself that children are the future of the village—without them, we have nothing. Sakura doesn't want to get rid of her baby, but if we don't do something about it she'll have to!"

"Yeah, but this kid isn't just anybody. It's part of Sasuke's plans, and we can't let those go forward. Besides, I don't even understand why she'd want to keep it, considering, well... all that." Shikamaru trailed off, letting the unspoken words hang in the air. Naruto shook his head vigorously.

"That doesn't matter! Think of Asuma's baby, Shikamaru. What would you do if someone had tried to force Kurenai to get rid of the baby?" he demanded. Shikamaru's head jerked up. The sound of his former sensei's name and the mention of his newly born child started to evoke some sort of strange emotion from him. He imagined the tiny baby girl, how warm and soft she had felt in his arms. Her jet black hair was a huge matted mess on top of her head, and her big brown eyes offered no feelings other than love and innocence.

"That's a different—" he tried to say, but Naruto cut him off.

"No it's not." Naruto's eyes were pleading. "Come on, Shikamaru. You know what you should do. Help me save Sakura and the baby. I... I know that I can't do it on my own." Shikamaru was silent. Finally, he sighed and heaved himself up to his feet.

"All right, fine. You win." A wide grin began spreading across Naruto's face. "You're right about the whole children thing, I guess. And with Asuma's baby... Anyway, I'll help you figure it out. But we're going to need one more person."

* * *

Sai slowly looked back and forth between his two comrades, Naruto and Shikamaru, who sat across the table from him at their favorite barbecue restaurant. Naruto's hands were still flailing through the air as he emphasized his words, but Sai had long since begun to tone him out.

"...so we have got to get her out! It's not right for them to do this to her!" Naruto finally ended, slamming his fist against the table.

"Now that your long-winded explanation is over, we can actually start talking about what we really need to be talking about," Shikamaru said, smirking at Naruto. His elbow was propped against the table and his chin rested in his hand. He lazily poked at the meat that sizzled on the grill in front of him.

"It wasn't long-winded! I was just telling Sai everything that he needs to know!" Naruto argued indignantly.

"So let me clarify," Sai said, setting his chopsticks down beside his plate. "You want me to provide you inside intelligence on the anbu headquarters so that we can form a plan to rescue Sakura and prevent her child from being aborted?" Naruto gaped at him.

"Wha—how did you know that? I didn't even get to that part yet!" he exclaimed. Sai smiled.

"Well, if it had just been you complaining to me about everything that happened, I wouldn't have assumed that you had a plan at all. But Shikamaru, unlike you, Naruto, is smart and would think to use me as a resource." A glare shot from Naruto's face.

"Yeah, just because you're on my team doesn't ..."

"Yeah yeah yeah, Naruto," Shikamaru said, slapping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Whatever you say. The important thing here is if you're willing to help us, Sai." Sai quickly swallowed his food before nodding.

"Yes, of course. I'd be glad to do anything to help out my teammates," he said.

"Hmph! Could've fooled me," Naruto grumbled.

"Good. It looks like we have all the people we need," Shikamaru said. "But we're gonna need to act quickly. Who knows how long it'll take us to actually carry out this mission once it's figured out, so we need to have our entire plan completed before we go to sleep tonight." Naruto nodded and flipped over the piece of grilling meat.

"And where are we planning for this meeting to occur?" Sai questioned, taking a small sip from his cup. Shikamaru glanced at Naruto and leaned back against the cushioned chair.

"Naruto's," he said. "You started this whole mission, and your house is closest. It better not be too much of a disaster, though." Naruto gave a sheepish smile.

"Well... we'll see about that," he said. The heat from the flames breathed against his skin. He abruptly pulled his hand back and stuffed the meat into his mouth, thinking that as annoying as those guys could be, he was glad that he always had them to rely on.

* * *

"Hey, Shino!" Kiba called urgently as he slipped off of Akamaru's back. He ran the last few feet until he was in the middle of the bridge which had long since become Team Kurenai's favored meeting spot. Excitement shone brightly in his eyes. "Good thing you're the only one here! There's something I have to tell you, but it's something Hinata wouldn't want to hear."

It had been late evening when Team Kurenai and Kakashi arrived back to the village. Leaving Kakashi to update Lady Tsunade on their findings, the three others had all retired back to their homes while planning to meet up the next afternoon to celebrate a somewhat successful mission by going out to lunch. Along the way, Kiba had happened upon a bit of juicy gossip that he could barely contain to himself.

Shino just looked at Kiba—or at least, so he assumed, since one could never tell with those sunglasses and hood—without saying a word.

"Or did you hear it already? It's about Naruto and Sakura. I just couldn't believe it!"

"You shouldn't be spreading rumors, especially about your comrades," Shino said, his voice dry and cynical.

"I'm telling you, it's the truth! But if you don't wanna know, fine, I don't care. Isn't that right, Akamaru?" Akamaru barked in affirmation. Shino's arms folded across his chest, little black bugs running across his hand—the only visible part of his body. Shino made no response, to which Kiba's squinted frown grew deeper and deeper. Finally, he burst.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure that Naruto knocked Sakura up and now she's pregnant!" Shino gave no reaction to these words, but behind Kiba a small voice whispered, "What?" He turned to see Hinata standing with one hand covering her mouth and the other clenched in front of her heart.

"Oh, Hinata!" Kiba said, his cheerfulness sounding much too forced. "How's it going? Oh, those are some cute shoes! Are they new?" All three pairs of eyes traveled to her worn, black sandals that were most certainly _not_ new. The scuff marks decorating every inch of the surface and the bits of leather that were beginning to peel blatantly testified to that.

"Since when do you look at her shoes?" Shino asked in his usual monotone way.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Kiba." Hinata's voice was unusually strong, causing both Shino and Kiba to give her their full attention. "What you said about… about Naruto"—her face flushed red when she said his name—"…is it true?"

"What? Is what true? I don't know what you're talking about, Hinata," Kiba said.

"I heard what you said about Sakura, but…" she trailed off, her milky white eyes never looking at one place for too long before darting away to look at something else. "It… it isn't true is it? Kiba?"

"Now look where your gossip has gotten you. I told you I didn't want to know but you had to tell me anyway."

"Shino, shut _up_!" Kiba said between clenched teeth. He awkwardly slipped his arm over Hinata's shoulders and gave a forced smile. "And as for the rumor, I wouldn't let it bother you. It's just a rumor after all. We can just go ask Naruto himself! I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding."

A few minutes later found all three members of Team Kurenai standing in front of Naruto's apartment, albeit quite reluctantly. Shino kept muttering about what kind of friend tries to verify rumors when they should be trying to stop them, to which Kiba would always reply with a, "Yeah? This isn't going to be very fun for me either! 'Hey Naruto, I heard that you and Sakura are having a kid! Is it true?'" Hinata said nothing, but the increasing shakiness of her body and redness of her face were more telling than anything she could have said.

The door, now standing in front of them, seemed to loom like the entrance to the underworld. Kiba gulped before slowly raising his hand and holding it an inch from the door. Hinata's heart was pounding, her mouth set in a worried line. When Kiba finally forced himself to knock on the door, everyone held their breath.

And then nothing happened.

After about twenty seconds, Kiba knocked again. Once again, nothing.

"Looks like he's not here," Shino said coolly.

"I noticed!" Kiba shot back.

"Well, I guess we should go now," Hinata said, sounding much too relieved. She started down the hallway to leave, but then the door opened. She froze and slowly turned around, barely daring to breathe, but the person standing in the doorway was not who she was expecting.

"Sai? What are you doing here?" Kiba asked. Sai looked absolutely exhausted and there was a small bit of smashed noodle on the bottom corner of his mouth, but he smiled at them all nonetheless and pulled the door open wider.

"I'm just helping Naruto out with some mission preparation," he answered. Hinata cautiously peeked over Kiba's shoulder and peered into the room. Behind Sai were Naruto and Shikamaru, both with dark bags under their eyes and extremely irritable expressions. Shikamaru was sprawled out on his back with a cup of water in his hand while Naruto sat cross-legged on the floor with a bowl of ramen balanced in his lap. Strewn all across the room were empty ramen packages, cups, and wrappers for various food items. Surrounding the floor around Naruto and Shikamaru was a scattering of papers that were written on with a quick, scribbling hand.

"Mission preparation? For what?" Kiba said. Naruto looked up from his ramen and seemed to notice his company for the first time.

"Oh. Kiba," he said groggily. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes, his face looking like a mere shadow of the usually cheerful Naruto everyone knew. "What're you all doin' here?" Kiba frowned at the unfamiliar Naruto, but forced himself to think about the question at hand.

Oh yeah. The question.

How did one go about asking something so personal as that? It wasn't like he was entitled to know or anything. _Gosh, any way I go about this will sound terrible._ He casually scratched the back of his neck and glanced at Shino, whose thoughts were completely hidden. What was that guy thinking, anyway?

"Uh... we kinda had a question for you. Actually, _Shino_ had a question—"

"Don't throw this on me. This whole situation is your fault. If you would learn to control your mouth, we wouldn't even be here right now," Shino said. Kiba scowled at him and was about to yell at him some more but Shikamaru beat them to it.

"If you guys are just gonna stand there and be annoying, you might as well leave. We're busy here!" he called from inside the room. His obvious lack of sleep did nothing to increase his patience.

"Kiba..." Hinata whispered, only so he could hear. He sighed and forged ahead.

"Well, we heard this rumor, and these two wanted to know..." One of Shino's bugs landed on Kiba's finger. Out of the corner of his eye, Kiba saw Shino's finger give a subtle gesture in some sort of command. "I mean, we _all_ wanted to know if it was true." The bug detached itself from his finger and flew back to Shino. "So, uh, did you and Sakura... get it on recently?" He lifted his eyebrows knowingly, hoping Naruto would get what he was implying.

Naruto blinked at the question. "Uh, did what now?"

"'Cause, uh, I heard that you..." he laughed uncomfortably, "and Sakura kinda... well, you know... hooked up." There. He said it. Naruto just stared at him. Behind him, Shikamaru gave an aggravated sigh. Quickly, Kiba tried to continue: "I mean, because we heard you guys were gonna have a baby and were all excited for you so we wanted to congratulate you, but we didn't know if it was true, so then we came here—"

"Your rambling is unnecessary," Shino said flatly. Kiba glared at him, but stopped anyway. Naruto still hadn't said anything.

"So...? Is it true?" Kiba prompted.

"Just answer the question so that they'll go away," Shikamaru said, sloshing the water around inside his cup.

"Oh, right. Yeah, it's true," Naruto said, stifling a yawn. Hinata let out a whimper and fell back a few steps; Kiba's jaw dropped and after a few seconds a smirk stole its way onto his face. As always, Shino gave no reaction.

"You little—I never would've thought that you had it in you! And to think it was Sakura! She's a tough one, especially on you," Kiba said, but Naruto's attention was no longer on him. He was looking in a sort of bleary-eyed concern at something behind Kiba.

"Hey, Hinata, are you—are you okay?" Kiba turned around. Hinata's eyes were wide, tears brimming the edges, and she was breathing quickly and rapidly.

"Hinata, careful! Slow breaths, you don't want to hyperventilate!" Kiba said, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm fine!" she managed to say, her voice airy and thin. "C... cong... congratulations..."

"Oh. Thanks." Naruto stared at her for a second. "Are you sure you're all right?" She started to say something, but then she let out a moan and her body went limp, leaning against Kiba's shoulder.

"Hey! Hinata!" Kiba yelled, but it was no use. She'd definitely fainted. He sighed in aggravation. "Why does she always do this?"

"That's something I don't have an answer for," Shino said. Kiba shook his head and slung Hinata over his shoulder.

"She's great and all, but sometimes it's pretty tiresome having her on the team. We'd better get her back to her house..." Kiba turned and grinned at Naruto, Hinata's arms swinging around as he did. "Well, I'll see you later, _papa_! Good luck with all that stuff. You really surprised me, you know!"

"Yeah yeah," Naruto said, yawning. "Bye, Kiba, Shino. I'll see you around." The two ninja waved and started down the hallway.

"Hmm. That was very interesting," Sai noted as he and Naruto watched them leave. "I think it's safe to assume that Hinata liked you very much, otherwise, why would she get so bothered by hearing about you and Sakura? Or did you know that already?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Well, I kinda knew something about it..."

"Yeah, like we care?" Shikamaru said. "Come on, let's finish this up so we can finally sleep." Naruto and Sai mutely obeyed, collapsing around the pile of papers, hoping beyond hope that their plans would be able to save Sakura, and the child inside her.

* * *

Karin landed soundlessly on the leaf-strewn forest floor. Camp was directly ahead of her; she could sense Suigetsu's repulsive chakra nearby, and, as usual, he was doing absolutely nothing. She humphed and sulked towards the camp. As she got nearer, a girlish smile played at her lips at the prospect of seeing Sasuke. _Oh, when he finds out how good of a job I did keeping those pitiful leaf ninja off our trail, he can't possibly be mad at me anymore!_ She let out an excited squeal and rushed the rest of the way back to camp.

When she reached their position—a little set up buried hidden beneath the trees—the first one to look up was Jugo. A smile blossomed across his face and he gave a small wave. Karin merely nodded back stiffly and cast her eyes about the area until they landed on Sasuke.

His back was to her, and he was slinging his pack over his shoulder. Suigetsu was sitting on the ground, gobbling up water by the gallon—disgusting cretin—and his pointed teeth twisted into a smirk when he saw her standing above him.

"Karin! Welcome back. I hope you didn't fail too miserably," he said. Karin glowered at him.

"You stupid moron! Of course I didn't fail, or else you wouldn't be sitting there like the lazy idiot you are! You'd be running through the forest trying to save your ass from those Leaf ninja!" The smirk on Suigetsu's face only seemed to widen.

"Temper, temper! No need to be so angry," he said. The way he treated her like she was a little kid made her want to snap his puny little neck in two. But a strong, melodious voice broke through her frustration.

"So you're back, Karin," Sasuke said, his tone indifferent. Karin spun so she was facing him, her heart fluttering in her chest like a reed of grass blowing in the wind. "We were just getting ready to leave." She froze. Everything seemed to stop—the beating of her heart, her excitement—all of it was dampened by that one sentence.

"Always know just what to say," Suigetsu commented as he lounged on the forest floor. Karin ignored him.

"But you promised me—you said you'd wait for me!" she protested, her face tightening.

"I didn't think you would take so long." Karin opened her mouth to speak but Sasuke continued. "I'd be careful with what you say, Karin. I'm still not sure if my decision to allow you back was the right one." Her mouth closed.

"Gee, Sasuke. You just keep getting friendlier by the day," Suigetsu said.

"Stay out of this, Suigetsu!" Karin snapped. Heat rose to her face. "Sasuke, I just—I mean, how would I have found you? I've been doing all this work, leaving false clues, making the team of Leaf shinobi chase after different leads, and you were just going to leave me?"

"The temporary goal of Taka must be carried out at all costs. We need to take Sakura into custody tonight, with or without you." Karin stared at the ground in front of her. Yes, this was the Sasuke she knew. The Sasuke who put his goals and his desires before anything else, anyone else. And now, it all came back to Sakura.

"Yes... her," Karin said softly. She'd tried, in vain, to keep what Sasuke had done to her from her mind, but now everything he had done was undeniable. "At least tell me this. Sakura... did you feel anything for her? At all?"

Sasuke didn't even turn his attention over to her as he said, "I feel absolutely nothing for her."

"Then why—"

"What I did to Sakura was merely a necessary step to accomplishing my goal. She is nothing but a pawn." Karin's hand flew out and smacked Sasuke squarely on the cheek. Surprise registered on his face, but only for a moment. Almost immediately Karin drew her hand away and stared at it in shock.

"Sasuke... I didn't mean to—"

"If your emotions are going to keep getting in the way like this, I won't hesitate to remove you from Taka." She stared, mesmerized, into his unfeeling black eyes. She didn't know what she felt—the dark uncertainty of fear, the heat of anger, the open wound of hurt.

"I know," she said finally, ripping her gaze away from his. "That was unacceptable." But part of her wanted to slap him again.

"So you don't mind if he goes out and kills a bunch of innocent people, but when he knocks up some girl that isn't you, you just freak out. Kinda pathetic, if you ask me," Suigetsu said. His voice tore her from her daze and she rounded on him.

"Well nobody asked you, jerk!" Karin snapped. Fuming, she stormed away. "I'm ready to go! Come get me when we leave!"


End file.
